Odd-numbered partials alone make a tone sound hollow or nasal

Evidence

3. If only the unevenly numbered partials are present (as in narrow stopped organ pipes, pianoforte strings struck in their middle points and clarinets), the quality of the tone is hollow, and, when a large number of such partials are present, nasal. When the prime tone predominates, the quality of the tone is rich; but when the prime tone is not sufficiently superior in strength to the upper partials, the quality of tone is poor. — David M. Howard, Jamie Angus, Acoustics and Psychoacoustics, 1495

Categorization

• CANDY: The clarinet’s nasal hollowness is explained by odd harmonics alone — a nice elevator fact you can verify on any clarinet.
• DEFINE: Grounds the terms ‘hollow’ and ‘nasal’ in a concrete spectral condition rather than a vague descriptor.
• corroborated: 3 independent passages support this claim — David M. Howard, Jamie Angus, Acoustics and Psychoacoustics, 1495
• XREF: connects to: Gamelan avoids perfect octaves because bell partials are inharmonic; Half-period delay of a tone cancels odd partials and raises pitch an octave; Tones with lower partials up to the sixth sound rich yet sweet

Broader Connections

• Half-period delay of a tone cancels odd partials and raises pitch an octave #contradicts (0.85)